Through with Negotiating
by ToxicTreacle
Summary: Rouge is sick of playing Mephiles' little mind games.


**Through with Negotiating**

Within the streets of Soleanna, it is dusk… It's very cold; even chilly enough to call it freezing.

Though, it isn't enough to wear away the figure walking along the side path.

It's easily assumed that she isn't happy, not with her… unfortunate predicament...

Ah, yes... That small problem concerning her precious, little hedgehog…

She shivers in the wind; her arms are wrapped around herself.

I crease a smirk at that.

Oh, Rouge the Bat, why must you persist so… even in the middle of the night?

As soon as she senses my presence, the dear bat lifts her head to meet my amused gaze. She glares, almost immediately.

"You," she simply says, a speck of malice in her tone as she unfolds her arms.

"Me?" I question, gesturing to myself, and smiling at her little, brave act.

She eyes me a moment, taking in my familiar, Shadow-like features before scowling. "Yes; you, Mephy."

"Ah, isn't that cute? You have a profound, little nickname for me," I state, green eyes glittering with that old hint of mockery.

"Button it. Keep talking and I'll change it," she murmurs, stepping closer. "And I'm _sure_ you wouldn't mind your manhood being insulted."

"My, I _wouldn't_," I drag. "But then… I'm sure **Shadow** would."

The batgirl growls at the mention of her companion, and stomps closer, only to pull herself back to restrain her future actions.

Oh, dear. Seems I've hit a sensitive spot.

Her fangs grit as she glowers at me. "Where. Is. He?"

What to do… what to say… Hmm…

…I think I'll have a play about…

"Whatever are you talking about, dear bat?" I ask, feigning as much innocence as I can muster. "I know _nothing_ of who you are speaking of."

"You do, you… y-you _bastard_," she mumbles through her teeth as she nears my face, growling; how feral. "You know _exactly_ what I'm on about. You know **exactly** where he is."

So, she knows of my little doings? Ha, ha, ha… Perfect.

"Do I?" I pause for dramatic effect. "I don't quite believe I remember…"

The snarl that escapes her muzzle seems more furious than before. "Oh, I'm pretty sure you **do** remember, Mephiles."

Within these waking moments, she seems so determined… Pity her reward will be nothing but solid rejection… What a show…

My gloved hands gesture at the surroundings, as I quizzically, yet scornfully inquire, "Don't you know it's unsafe for little girls to be up at this time?"

"Don't you worry about little, ol' me…" She smirks for a moment, only to scowl a micro-second later. "I can take care of myself, buddy."

"Can you?"

A silence falls upon us.

"Quit changing the subject, Meph…" She's obviously through with playing after this sentence.

The girl steps closer, more than I'd like, and grabs at that white fur surrounding my chest, tugging at it ruthlessly and making her face near my own.

I'm assuming she's trying to _hurt_ me. What a stupid girl…

Her naïve, azure eyes look into mine, bearing nothing but hidden hatred for my meddling with her little friend. "You'll tell me where _he_ is, or so _help_ me…"

I sigh, before lifting my own hand, and bringing it to hers. She watches it as it grips her wrist. I begin twisting it, making the cocky bat cringe in pain.

"I suppose you'll find, _dear_ Rouge," I speak her name with a new-found irritation, twisting her muscle more violently and causing her to wince, "that I do not take lightly to being pushed around."

She moves her panicking, blue orbs to my reptilian ones, and then to her hands as I tighten my grip; ah, I could see fear a mile away…

"Get off me," she orders, her voice bold as if she were a ruler of a fair kingdom. "Or I'll… I'll make you."

Such courageous, yet foolish words…

"Will you, now?" I snidely ask with a maliciously creased grin, "Go ahead… I'm not stopping you… am I?"

I can hear her whimper; she's trying to make it scarce…

I'm not that deaf, you daft bat.

"**Mephiles the Dark."**

I turn my head, amused as I see yet another vaguely familiar thorn in my side.

The bat looks to the newcomer, and gives a thankful look, "Omega…"

True enough, the nuisance pile of red machinery is there, his threatening image consisting of a metal claw and a machine gun doing nothing but making me chuckle.

Oh, my... This is becoming quite a party, isn't it?

I give the albino a side-glance. "Seems your little robot toy has come to play, too."

Those drone-like, lifeless, red eyes try to stare me down. "Release Rouge the Bat… _immediately_."

I look hard at the metallic creature, tilting my head to intentionally give that creepy atmosphere to the said female, who is now observing me with tense-looking features.

Many thoughts of possibilities rush through my mind… Not entirely pleasant for these beings nonetheless, but for I…

Hm, hm… I'll allow these two to amuse me for a little while.

I chuckle at the serious pair. "Gladly."

Moments later, I shove her backwards; causing the _poor_ girl to stumble back awkwardly and curse herself for thinking she could harm _me_, of all people.

As if a truck of dirt had suddenly fallen on her, the bat dusts herself off; again, coming closer as she voids her frightened expression.

She has her metal friend with her, now… She's feeling a little more daring… Though, to me, this changes nothing.

"You're so clever, Mephiles…"

She's trying to flatter me? The sneaky mortal's up to something…

…I'll play along.

"Indeed, I am," I smugly reply.

"Leading me to think that you're the one actually behind his disappearance… it was pretty blatant. And, here I thought you were the most manipulative liar on the block."

I crease a smirk at that description.

My dear, you have no idea…

"You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, bat; it's most unwise… appearances can deceive you…"

A hand falls on her hip, as she gives a mischievous smile. "And you'd be one of those books?"

I pause for a moment. "…Possibly."

She pouts, folding her arms. "Well, I don't believe it."

"You don't believe it?"

"Nope," she answers. "You obviously can't lie as well as you say…"

"I never said I could, bat, though it's plain, even for your pitiful senses."

She closes in on me, leaving our noses a small distance apart as she gives a playful wink. "Sure… but even you weren't able to lie well enough to bring Shads along to your side."

"Lie?" I question. "Everything I said to that wretched hedgehog had truth within it… I merely… tainted it slightly for that–what's the word? Ah, yes… –dramatic effect."

"Mhm? Right… Either way, you suck at lying," she states, her eyes narrowing at mine, without fear. "There's no shred of admittance or evidence that you ever successfully lied."

"You obviously haven't met that silver hedgehog…"

"You obviously haven't met a certain echidna." She waved her hand about. "Too gullible. What would strike your pose, would be lying to someone serious, about something big…"

"Something… big?"

What _are_ you up to?

"Yeah… you keep saying how Shadow is still alive… in your own, little way, of course."

Hmm…

"So, you wish for me to say nothing of it? I have delight in crushing your hope, Rouge the Bat…" I trail off, placing a hand on my mouth-less muzzle.

The mortal steps back, raising her head to the sky as she closes her eyes. "Don't need to. I don't need a genius to tell me Shadow's dead."

A pity… She lacks faith… and yet, seems so cold about it… I'm watching and listening, batgirl.

"I mean, you lied that badly when you said Shadow was alive, so, he's obviously dead by your standards…"

Her hands clasp behind her back; hm… a conniving sign.

"Bah! I did _not_ lie about your _precious_, little hedgehog, dear bat. He still exists on this very planet."

"Oh, really?" she inquires, raising an eye ridge. "Where?"

"He's…"

I quickly avoid saying anything more.

Ah, ha… So, this is what you were trying to accomplish, batgirl…

I maintain my poker face, trying to prevent her suspicions from rising that I had caught on with her little act.

"He's hidden away," I say, leaving a gap in the conversation. "In a place you know very well…"

She blinks at the straight-forward sentence, her brow lowering in concentration.

"Yes…" I bait the trap, lowering my gaze to the floor. "In a place where imprisonment had been attempted… with my involvement…"

Her face possesses confusion; she should be remembering an old battle of ours… "Hmm… With imprisonment and your involvement, huh? I _wonder_…"

The fool's falling for it…

"Omega?" she inquires.

…Or not.

The piece of trash they call a robot steps forward, its gleaming, dim lights brightening only for a moment as some sort of light slides up and down my body.

"This is your big plan to find out if I'm deceiving you?" I gesture with bored hands. "What a simpleton…"

"He's scanning for any signs of physiological stress, sped up respiration, etc.," she explains, rather smugly, her wings flapping gently. "You ever heard of a portable polygraph, Mephy?"

Hmm… I believe they use machines like that to detect lies… Quite a bit of technology they have… Oh, how perfect…

"In case you haven't, let me just say…" Her muzzle sports a sneaky grin. "If you're lying, we'll know about it."

Oh, but I am not lying, you sly bat… There's more truth in my words than you'll ever know.

Though, the question remains… how will you decipher my little riddle?

"**Scanners and polygraph patterns indicate Mephiles the Dark is speaking the truth."**

I crease a smirk, and the obvious expression on the female's face gives me the impression that wasn't the answer she was after… Oh, woe.

She glares, huffs, and then begins folding her arms whilst turning around.

Ah… if this had been a fight, that would've been the biggest mistake to ever make… especially in front of me.

"I guess that's it, then," she mumbles, quietly, trying not to speak too loud. "Dusty Desert ruins…" She shoves a side-glare at me, and then, almost hesitantly, states, "…Here we come…"

Ha, ha, ha… To think, I have the notorious Team Dark in the palm my hand!

This is child's play!

"C'mon, Omega."

That nuisance of a robot remains still for a moment, as if it's actually possessing suspicion of me… Bah! It's a machine. How can it possibly depict emotions?

Thankfully, I won't have to see that metal piece of trash, anymore…

Omega reluctantly follows the leader in search for the wild goose.

"Oh, and, Mephiles?" The batgirl stops, turning her head and giving a scowl. "If I find out you're lying…"

"Lying? Why, isn't your little lie detector good enough for you? Would you rather _insult_ your _teammate's_ accuracy than believe I am telling the truth?"

She bitterly lowers her brow, eyeing the spoken being a moment, secretly sorry for her… little insult; yes… that's right… believe your little friend… otherwise you'll be in worse torment and torture than you were meant to be…

A silence.

"Touché." Rouge looks on again. "But… if I find—"

"Ah, ah, ah, dear bat~," I say in song, gesturing towards her dramatically, "Don't be overestimating yourself."

"Humph…" She looks down the opposite road.

…

The bat stares hard at the distance; seems she's trying to determine something. How reluctant…

…

Said mortal looks towards her metal companion.

…

"Let's go."

I watch with expression of amusement as the two fade out from my sight.

Don't worry, batgirl… I have a feeling our next reunion will be well-remembered… Though, I have this _odd_ feeling you won't be alive to remember it…

**s-S-s**

**:O Ooooo! A THREAT!**

**Don't ask about the Polygraph thing. XD I just assumed with all the technology the ARK had back then, and the fact that Eggman was a massive brainiac, the thing about Omega having a portable polygraph wouldn't be too much… Now that I've written it, I'm doubting my theories… :L**

**Being honest, Rouge's plan to make him spill the beans confused me a bit when I'd written it… I just couldn't get my head around on what to put. :P**

**Anyways…**

**Reason I did this, was to sequel to my other One-Shots, and to work on my characterization of Mephy, (Though, I feel as if it's slightly redundant…) so, it wasn't to be that imaginative… Either way, I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Any reviews are much appreciated. :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mephiles, Rouge, or Omega. All characters go to SEGA.**


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